Eardisley Church
When you visit Eardisley Church you’ll find much more than a celebrated Romanesque font and a peaceful place of worship.
You’ll find a building with information and exhibitions to attract your interest and make your stay in the village memorable.
At various times in the year you’ll catch the feeling of a vibrant community where people work or have fun together in dozens of wonderful ways and get a glimpse into how the church building plays a part in the everyday living community - the heritage, business, music and arts activity that is Eardisley.
Like many English villages, Eardisley has a parish church which is an excellent example of a medieval hall. When it was built it would have been used for markets, law courts, theatre and even sport, as well as for religious purposes, because it was the only community building of any size in the village. However, in recent centuries village churches have come to be seen exclusively as places of worship, and for rites of passage like weddings, baptisms and funerals. While these remain key reasons for the building’s existence we think it’s important that the building is preserved as a resource for communities of the future to use more widely.
It will be easier to accomplish this if people regard the building in the way our mediaeval ancestors did – as a place to use any day, instead of just Sunday, and for many purposes.
This ‘mediaeval’ approach surprises a lot of people. Far from being divided into separate parts for different uses or being made into a village hall, the whole church building is remaining available for worship and celebration, with enhanced facilities. And, in addition
- there are exhibitions featuring local history, local businesses and topical or controversial issues
- there’s information about the church and the village and about things to see and do in the area, for tourists
- there are concerts and music workshops from time to time.
People do drop in, perhaps just to see the Font – but they stay on and look at other aspects of the building and talk about what they see. The benefits to the community, to visitors in the area, to local businesses and performing groups are growing.
With the help of DEFRA and other grant funding agencies a kitchen and toilets have been built; there is performance staging, a sound and loop system and provision for displays.
Recently the lighting and heating have been much improved with the support of a 64% grant provided by the Community Aggregates Fund (COMMA). This fund is delivered by Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), the part of Defra's Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund which seeks to provide benefit and compensation for communities affected by quarrying. The remaining 36% was provided by Herefordshire Capital Grants, The Diocesan Partnership Fund and our own resources. We also wish to thank members of the Rural Community Action Network in Hereford who gave assistance and support with the applications.
Eardisley Church now provides a comfortable and well equipped environment for people using the building for a range of appropriate purposes.
The Church is always open, so you are welcome to drop in anytime; it is accessible for wheelchair users.